Copyright William Edelen
It is tragic that the reputation of an institution like the Library of Congress can be compromised and prostituted by an employee who has become affiliated with the agenda of the political and religious right wing of this country. A new 'exhibit' called "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic" was put together by employee James Huston. He writes that, quote: "the founders thought that virtue and morality required religion, therefore religion was necessary." What hogwash! The naive, gullible, innocent and historically ignorant will believe this nonsense.
You may remember that in a recent column I quoted from the Encyclopedia Britannica the statement that our first six presidents were Deists, and not Christian. Now, do not miss the following: This is not just Bill Edelen talking. American history scholars, including Pulitzer Prize winners, are so appalled at this perversion of history coming from the Library of Congress that they have written a scalding letter of protest. It was signed by Pulitzer prize winning historian Leonard Levy and twenty five (25) more of some of the most distinguished scholars in the United States. The letter states, quote: "We strongly disagree with these statements coming from the Library of Congress and we urge the library staff to refrain from presenting their statements as facts. They are not."
The 25 scholars are from many of Americas leading universities, including Jefferson's own University of Virginia. The scholars demolished one falsehood after another, such as the statement that "Jefferson rode over to Congress every Sunday morning to attend church services." The scholars said, in effect, what baloney! Jefferson never attended church in his life as a regular habit. Seldom, if at all. He despised the clergy and the tyranny of the Christian church, as he said in dozens of letters and other writings. I have quoted Jefferson, Madison and Adams on this subject in many columns, with references. The deceiving nature of this, so called, 'exhibit' makes no mention of the persecution and Christian tyranny in early America where the death penalty was required for anyone who denied God or the Trinity. It makes no mention of James Madison saying time and time again that "a democracy has no need for the church or the clergy."
An interesting fact: The Christian Coalition of Pat Robertson and James Dobson were promoting and applauding this 'exhibit' BEFORE it even opened, which means they were told the contents ahead of time so they could capitalize on the message. It is a sad day in American history when the Library of Congress, through an employee, becomes involved in historical perversions and falsehoods to support a political agenda, of any kind.